The Wedding Tax Myth: Two thirds of couples lie in order to save money on wedding costs

According to leading wedding expert and editor of Hitched.co.uk, Zoe Burke, it’s simply not a like for like comparison, and this way of thinking completely undermines the work that goes into creating a cake that is intended to not only last all day in any matter of climates, but is also big enough to feed up to 100 people.

“Of course businesses want to make a profit, that’s inevitable. We all need to earn enough money to keep roofs over heads and food on tables, but the idea that a sneaky, calculating cake maker is rubbing her hands with glee because she’s seen you’ve put ‘wedding’ in your enquiry form, so now she can whack out those extra zeros, is just so far off the mark.

“The hundreds of pounds you spend on your wedding cake isn’t just for the finished article and how it looks - it’s for the time the creator spends meeting with you, discussing ideas, giving you samples, and for their own overheads too - the kitchen it’s made in costs money to run. It’s not a like for like comparison.

“The truth is the majority of the industry is made up by independent female-owned businesses. We’re talking about women at their kitchen tables, working around family dynamics, more often than not. Women who have talents for cake making, photography, designing, flowers, choosing this job as it allows them to be home for the school run, or make money from their passion.”

Jessica Howells, owner of Oxford-based cake design business Flour and Fold agrees, telling Hitched just how long it takes to create a cake that will hold up on your dream day.

“For a wedding cake, I block out 4-5 days in my diary, including the wedding day itself. This ensures I have enough time to bake everything, prep any fillings/coverings - as well as make wafer elements, or source flowers etc.

“For more simple designs, I usually block out 3-4 days. You also have to factor in setting time with iced elements, as well as time for paperwork - speaking to venues, writing allergen lists and liaising with other suppliers.

“Because of this, the average price of a wedding cake from my bakery was £700 in 2024. The most expensive was £1250, cheapest was £355. Birthday cakes average around £150-200 for a tall 6” cake.”

And why are birthday cakes so much cheaper?

“They are completely different items!” Says Jessica. “For birthday cakes, I exclusively use buttercream apart from the final outer layer of ganache (but only because this is my preferred medium for a polished finish).

“Birthday cakes don’t contain internal edible structures like a wedding cake - such as ganache dams and strong ganache crumb coats. A birthday cake can sit on display for 2 hours before starting to deteriorate (on an average temperature day, away from light/heat sources) whereas wedding cakes need to be able to withstand warm conditions (summer weddings) for up to 10 hours.

“Wedding cakes often have to feed a much larger group of people. Depending on the event, depends how I quote - for example, if I know someone is travelling 3+ hours in a car with a birthday cake, I’ll structure and price this differently to ensure it gets to its destination in top condition.”

Jessica tells Hitched about the time she caught a customer in a lie, discovering an order was actually for a wedding and not a birthday party as discussed.

“A customer asked for a cake to be delivered to a hair salon, close to a wedding venue. I thought it was strange - but went along with it. It wasn’t until a month or so before, when we were discussing delivery options, and she mentioned ‘the venue’. I followed up and asked her to confirm that she was talking about the hair salon, which is when she said the name of the venue over the road.

“I explained to her that wedding cakes are made and structured in a different way to celebration cakes to ensure stability when on display for 10 hours, and different information is needed for venues as well as alternative set up methods and comms, resulting in a slightly higher price. I said that if this was for a wedding booking, there would need to be a slight price increase to cover these costs.

“She replied to say that basically the cake won’t be on display for 10 hours, only four hours, and that she had already agreed everything with the venue so there was no need for me to ‘do anything else’...

“I tried to reason with her, explaining that the timings are from the moment the cake leaves the fridge, including travel time, etc. and I gave her a few options for resolution. One option was that I create the cake as a standard two tier celebration cake as originally discussed, and the cake would need to be stored in its box in the fridge at the venue, and only brought out a couple of hours before cutting. This is my advice for all celebration cakes and I explained I would not be liable for anything that happened to the cake if my instructions were not followed.

“Or, I offered to change the order into a proper wedding cake with full structural support so it would handle being out on display all day, and as a gesture of goodwill, offered to do this at a much lower cost than usual. I also offered to refund her deposit due to the miscommunication and told her she was welcome to go elsewhere.

“Of course, she decided to take the first option. It was clear that this bride was on the swindle - and it set a bad tone for the booking! This was back in 2022, and needless to say I’m a bit sharper now and would be on the lookout for anything suspect in the future.

“I wish in hindsight I’d cancelled her booking, but I was young and inexperienced. I took pity and created the cake the same as I would for a wedding, as I couldn’t bear the thought of it collapsing and then reflecting badly on me and my business!”

Jessica’s Advice for Saving Money with Wedding Vendors is simple:

“Be honest! I’m more than accommodating when couples tell me they have a budget to work to, and I let them know what is achievable within their price structure. Work together, not against each other. You need a level of trust with your clients, and this works both ways.”